Having experienced two terrific thunderstorms, the first a few days ago and the second last Saturday, we thought we were in for some pleasant weather again. Yesterday started with clear skies although by mid-day there were sure signs of rain coming. As I was ready to cycle-off to the local supermarket, at round about half four, one or two people said "You're gonna get wet". There were low clouds to seaward (to the south) and a breeze coming in from the SE. Whilst in the supermarket there was a bit of a deluge, which turned-out to be less horrific when I identified what sounded like a waterfall was a waterfall, due to damaged overhead guttering. Come to think of it, the ride back to Ticketeeboo was relatively uneventful and I hardly got wet. Soon after, the rain came in earnest, driven in by a steady 25'ish kts SE'ly wind. Before turning-in just after midnight I decided to lift our passerelle and realised I needed to make some adjustments because one of our davits was precariously close to the pontoon pillar. At first I thought I would need to adjust lines, in the rain, in the dark. Fortunately, after switching our deck-lights on, I realised I can retract the davits arms to gain more space, by shortening them by about ½m, which did the trick nicely. Off to bed? No chance! First the wind suddenly and unexpectedly changed from SE to NW and increased, gusting over 50 kts. Ahhhhhhh, wonderful. This went on until just before 2'ish, accompanied by our third decent dosage of thunder and lightening, and of course lots of rain. When the wind seemed to settle below 30 kts it was time for some shut-eye. Each time I awoke during the night it was still raining heavily. It's now 10 am and there's just a light on/off drizzle. Three major thunderstorms in less than a week is more than enough to test our mooring lines! Let's hope that's it for a while? It seems central Med has been (and is) suffering bad weather so Ticketeeboo and Porto Touristico Marina di Ragusa is not alone!
The pic was taken before the first thunderstorm, when the weather was superb! (Just to remind me).4 more sleeps to My Lover then first face-to-face contact with new baby Grandchild, Thomas Michael. xxxxx